Written questions by Holden.

How many members of the Senior Civil Service in his Department are in post on a temporary basis, at each grade.

There were 60 SCS1, 21 SCS2, and less than 5 SCS3 in post on a temporary basis on the 31st of March 2025.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 41110 on Government departments: political activities, whether there are limits on the amount of party political content that Ministers can deliver in speeches with scripted party political content in government departments which are not ministerial residences.

While guidance is not expressed in terms of specific limits, the primary purpose of any ministerial speech must be government business and the essential nature of the speech should not be party political.

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 43964 on Cabinet office: stress, how many (a) civil servants and (b) special advisers were signed off absent due to stress in the business unit of 10 Downing Street in the most recent week for which data is available.

Information about sickness absence in the Cabinet Office is published regularly on gov.uk. The latest data publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-service-sickness-absence-2024/civil-service-sickness-absence-2024-report#by-organisation

Pursuant to the Answer of 17 April 2025 to Question 44026 on 9 Downing Street: Repairs and Maintenance, what the purpose associated with the referenced entry of £122,086.70 on OCS was.

The referenced entry of £122,086.70 for OCS on the February disclosure notice relates to OCS' regular monthly Fixed Facilities Management services provided to Government Property Agency properties in the North. For clarity, this does not include the No. 9 media suite.

Pursuant to the answer of 8 April 2025, to Question 43946, on Alex Chisholm, what steps have been taken to address the staffing issues, and what impact has this had on the processing time of Business Appointment applications to ACOBA.

The Cabinet Office, as the sponsoring department of ACoBA, has supported the Committee’s secretariat to recruit the additional staff it required to ensure it is fully resourced to deliver its core functions to agreed timescales.

Whether the (a) Office for National Statistics and (b) UK Statistics Authority plan to publish a response to the recommendations of the Independent review of data, statistics and research on sex and gender, published on 19 March 2025.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 28th April is attached.

What funding is available to Ramsden Hall Academy to help secure the school site; and if she will meet the Rt hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay to discuss that funding.

The department supports academy trusts, local authorities and voluntary-aided school bodies, who are responsible for managing the safety and maintenance of their estates, with capital funding, rebuilding programmes and extensive guidance on effective estate management.We have recently confirmed the details of £2.1 billion of capital funding for the 2025/26 financial year to improve the condition of the school estate, up from £1.8 billion committed for the 2024/25 financial year.For the 2025/26 financial year, Parallel Learning Trust met the eligibility criteria for the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF), and its schools, including Ramsden Hall Academy, were invited to bid into CIF for capital projects. We expect to confirm outcomes of CIF later in the spring.Capital funding to improve school buildings beyond 2025/26 will be confirmed following the next phase of the spending review.I would be happy to meet to discuss capital funding for Ramsden Heath Academy.

With reference to his Department's guidance entitled Public Bodies Handbook – Part 2: The Approvals Process for the Creation of New Arm’s-Length Bodies, whether his Department's public bodies team assessed the Independent Football Regulator against the requirement that the creation of a new arm's length body should only be considered as a last resort; whether the Department for Culture, Media and Sport provided evidence that alternative delivery models were considered; and which of the three tests in Chapter 2 of that guidance Independent Football Regulator met.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is currently working through the approval process to establish the Independent Football Regulator as an Arm’s Length Body, in parallel to the passage of the Football Governance Bill.

If he will make an estimate of the average number of days for a write-round clearance to be approved by the (a) Parliamentary Business and Legislation Committee and (b) Economic and Domestic Affairs Secretariat since 5 July 2024.

The principle of collective responsibility requires that the privacy of ministerial discussions at Cabinet and its committees should be maintained. It is therefore a long-established precedent that information relating to the proceedings of Cabinet and its committees, including decisions reached via correspondence, is not normally shared publicly.

What assessment she has made of the potential impact of Chinese influence in UK universities on national security.

The first duty of the government is to keep the country safe, and we will always protect our national security and values. We expect the sector to be alert to a range of risks when collaborating with international partners, and to conduct appropriate due diligence to comply with legislation. There are a set of measures that protect against undue foreign interference in our universities, ranging from the Academic Technology Approval Scheme, which vets students and researchers seeking to study in sensitive areas, to the provisions of the Higher Education Freedom of Speech Act 2023, which offer a focused route for concerns to be escalated, including relating to foreign interference in academic freedom and free speech. In England, providers are also required to have adequate and effective management and governance arrangements and must ensure that decisions are taken without direction, coercion or covert influence.As a matter of longstanding policy, the department is unable to release information regarding assessments on the grounds of national security. The UK welcomes international partnerships and students, including from China, who make a very positive impact on the UK’s higher education sector, our economy and society as a whole.

What his planned timetable is for publishing a consultation on lowering the proportional threshold for trade union recognition.

The Employment Rights Bill has a power that enables Ministers to bring forward secondary legislation to vary the trade union recognition application threshold from 10% to 2% trade union membership of the bargaining unit.No decision has yet been made by the Government as to whether or when to exercise this power. Therefore, there is no planned timetable for consulting on it at present.

Innovation and Technology, what plans he has for (a) digital identity cards and (b) a national identity database.

The Government has no plans to create digital identity cards or a national identity database.

Whether the new Civil Service Jobs service will be open to the public.

There will be no change to what information and services will be open to the public when the new Civil Service Jobs platform is in place.

Whether he plans to take steps to encourage households to have sufficient access to (a) food and (b) other essential supplies for use in emergencies.

Advice for the general public on how to prepare for emergencies is published on GOV.UK. GOV.UK/Prepare provides simple and effective steps that individuals, households and communities can take to be more prepared for a range of emergencies. This advice includes a suggested list of supplies that individuals can consider keeping at home, if they are able, to make it easier for them to manage during an emergency. The list includes items such as bottled water, non-perishable food, baby formula, essential medication, battery or wind up torches and radios and portable powerbanks.

If he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill on the Salisbury-Addison Convention in the House of Lords.

The conventions concerning the relationship between the House of Commons and the House of Lords are unaffected by the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill. The Bill fulfills a manifesto commitment to remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords. As such, the Bill clearly engages the Salisbury-Addison convention.

Whether appointments to Great British Energy will be included in the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the chair will be classified as a significant appointment.

Once Great British Energy (GBE) is formally designated following Royal Assent of the GBE Bill, we will consider whether to propose an amendment to the Public Bodies Order in Council; and whether the GBE Chair will be classified as a significant appointment.

For what reason the public appointment process for the (a) Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and (b) House of Lords Appointments Commission members has been cancelled.

Ministers exercised their rights under the Governance Code on Public Appointments not to appoint any candidates for the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments Chair role. The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster informed the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) of his decision on 27 February 2025. The letter is available on PACAC’s website: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46905/documents/242018/default/The outcome of the appointment process for Independent Members to the House of Lords Appointments Commission will be announced once that process has concluded.

With reference to the press notice entitled Appointment of Oli de Botton as the PM’s Expert Adviser on Education and Skills, published on 3 April 2025, whether the Expert Adviser on Education and Skills has been appointed as a (a) special adviser, (b) civil servant, (c) public appointment or (d) as a direct ministerial appointment; and whether that post is remunerated.

Oli de Botton has been appointed as a direct ministerial appointment. The post is remunerated.

Pursuant to the Answer of 3 April 2025 to Question 41640 on Government Departments: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution, if he will make it his policy to publish all Government Procurement Card transactions above £0 made by his Department.

All central Government departments are required to publish Government Procurement Card transactions of £500 and over in line with the guidance available to all government departments on gov.uk at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5e8b402686650c18ce2cb541/Procurement_Cards_-_Pan_Government_Policy_V4_06042020.pdf. The Cabinet Office is compliant with this guidance and there are no current plans to change this approach. Following tough action from the Cabinet Office, all Government Procurement Cards have been frozen and only been re-issued where it is clear that these are business critical.

With reference to the Answer of 12 April 2025 to Question HL6032 on Arm’s Length Bodies, what Project Seahorse is.

Project Seahorse is exploring delivery options. The Government will set out further details in due course.